FOUR junior golfers flew to Florida yesterday to compete in a 36-hole Premier Tour event.

The four, 14-year-old Dwayne Pearman Jr., John Seymour, 15, Scott Gilbertson 14 and Ryan Benevides 15, will compete over the weekend at the Errol Estate Country Club in Apopka which is in North Orlando.

Their coach, Eardley Jones, travelled with them and said this week that the youngsters earned the right to go to Florida as a result of their performances in the Ross Blackie Talbot Summer Tour in Bermuda which ran for three months. He said: "Thomas Svensen and Jesse Marshall finished in the top four in the 15-18 age group but were unable to make the trip due to school commitments so Scott and Ryan were next in line to take their places."

The event in Apopka is one of the Premier Tour statewide events and Jones said there will be a strong field to contend with. "These players are drawn to these events at Florida's finest courses across the state and they are vying for end-of-year points awards which count for American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) exemptions."

Some parents will also travel with the players.

This was the fifth year that Jones has run the Ross Blackie Talbot Summer Tour with the Bermuda Junior Golf Association and with sponsorship from the Ross Blackie Talbot charities.

During the three months this summer the juniors played at Mid Ocean, Tucker's Point, Belmont Hills and Riddells Bay, in three age groups ¿ 15-18, 12 and under and Novices.

"Only the players in the 15-18 group were eligible for the overseas trip so some of the boys including Dwayne and Scott who were only 14 at the time moved up to the 15-18 age group so they had a chance of the trip," added Jones.